Retargeting for Animation - Sprint 3

Author: Tyler Sessler

Each skeleton has a set of unique bone structures, so unless we get a universal template, we will have to modify imported skeletons. Art developers will often prefer the A-Pose working with assets. Animations are often made in the T-Pose position.  In order to get skeletons provided from an artist prepared for animation, we have to do some restructuring. Essentially, once the A-Pose is changed to a T-Pose, things get a lot easier.
This week I used the IK Rig tool to reposition skeletons. First, I imported an already T-Posed mode (default model), along with the one I intend to retarget. I then setup the default model with bone structure grouping (retarget chains). This allows me to take various amounts of bone and group them together. For example, I took the 3 spine bones and created one grouped "Spine". I then did this for the new imported model as well, making sure I stick with the same names.
Finally, I used the IK Retargeter to overlap the models. Taking the A-Posed model, I started working on positioning the arms, hands, fingers, and more into a T-Pose. Once both models are overlapped as best as possible, the imported A-Pose model is now ready for animating.